


Something In That Flashing Light

by PigSlay



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crush at First Sight, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Photographer Zayn, Teacher Louis, if you like complicated this is NOT for you, only in the past not in the present, this is a very happy story, this time he teaches high school not elementary school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 05:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19419595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PigSlay/pseuds/PigSlay
Summary: Before he completely hits the ground, somebody who was behind him catches him. “Wow, thanks.” As he turns around to look at the person who helped him up, his heartbeat accelerates. The perfectly chocolate brown eyes, the eyelashes that look too perfect to not be make-up, and the tattoos up and down the arms. If he hadn’t already almost fallen once, he’d be falling again probably.“Uh… No problem,” the person says. Louis notices in their other hand they have a Polaroid camera. How retro. “It’s not retro. Lots of people are still buying Polaroid cameras in this day and age.”Louis hadn’t realized he had said that out loud but now that he has, he wants to continue. “Lots of people are still buying Vinyl and record players but that doesn’t make those any less retro.”(A Zayn/Louis fic based on Polaroid by Jonas Blue, Liam, and Lennon Stella)





	Something In That Flashing Light

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know One Direction, nor do I own the song Polaroid. This is the first fic o'mine that I have not chaptered in any way, shape, or form. Not even an epilogue. It just didn't feel like any time was the ~right~ time to add a chapter. I hope you all don't mind; those kinds of fics seem popular in this fandom anyway.
> 
> Okay let’s get serious for a second. If you are reading this because you received an email that said “PigSlay just posted a new work” I really want you to read this. If you are unattached to my username and just wanna read all the Rare Pair fics, carry on. I have one more fic that I plan to post before fall starts but since that is Zarry and most people who follow me follow me for Zouis, I’m gonna say it here first.
> 
> This fall, I am starting as a full time student at the University of my dreams. At this University, I will get a bachelors in Creative Writing. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted. The issue with this, is, that I don’t know what kind of time I will have for recreational writing. Think about it: I will be learning about writing, I will be graded on my writing. And I’m sorry but fanfiction about boyband members kissing each other just, isn’t the kind of thing that I can read aloud to my class comfortably.
> 
> What I am saying is, I am not sure how often – if at all – I will be able to write fanfiction just for fun. There is a lot of uncertainty right now, and I am not necessarily saying “it’s over”. I’m just also not necessarily saying “I can definitely keep going at the same pace I have been going the last five years”. School is hard work, writing is hard work. Writing is also what I love to do the most – if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be dedicating my education to it. So. Please don’t think of this as a ‘goodbye’, because I don’t like that word. Just think of it as ‘I need more time and space to balance all my commitments now’. I love you, and I hope you enjoy the fanfic as much as I enjoyed writing it. And if you’re into Zarry, look forward to that before the summer is over (I hope)! (It will _not_ be attached to the Rare Pairs or any other event though.)
> 
> I would like to thank Janee for always being my brainstorm buddy and for your ~expertise~ in the psychology of three year olds; I absolutely wanted to get Freddie's personality 'right' and you helped me do that for sure. :) I would like to thank the mod for being patient with me after receiving mixed signals about when I would actually post this; look at that! it's here! :) Thank you for putting on this fest in the first place too; now that I am finally done with my own piece of work, I am super excited to finally read the other ones in this lovely fest. And finally, thank you to my artist missytearex; you are super talented and I really do want to work with you again if I have the time. <3

**2010**

Louis hates that his friends Niall and Liam dragged him to this bar tonight. Despite what they may think, he doesn’t need to get out to feel better. He’s very content in holing up in his dorm-room and ignoring his problems until they go away, thank you very much.

However, he’s here now so he supposes he will just have to suck it up, for better or worse, and have some fun. He orders himself a pint and looks around. Niall and Liam have already slipped onto the dancefloor and left him alone, those jerks.

He starts drinking, taking it down fairly quickly so that it will help him to ease up and get into a better mood quickly. After he downs the third one and Liam and Niall still haven’t returned from their adventures on the dancefloor, he decides to make his way over there as well.

When he first gets there, Louis tries to find his friends, but he can’t see anybody for the life of him in this crowd. He starts dancing on his own, waiting for the pints to kick in. Once they do, however, he finds himself starting to fall. “Oh gosh-”

Before he completely hits the ground, somebody who was behind him catches him. “Wow, thanks.” As he turns around to look at the person who helped him up, his heartbeat accelerates. The perfectly chocolate brown eyes, the eyelashes that look too perfect to not be make-up, and the tattoos up and down the arms. If he hadn’t already almost fallen once, he’d be falling again probably.

“Uh… No problem,” the person says. Louis notices in their other hand they have a Polaroid camera. How retro. “It’s not retro. Lots of people are still buying Polaroid cameras in this day and age.”

Louis hadn’t realized he had said that out loud but now that he has, he wants to continue. “Lots of people are still buying Vinyl and record players but that doesn’t make those any less retro.”

The person starts laughing, and Louis tries to stand up again but his feet still aren’t working very well. Polaroid-Camera sets down their machine temporarily to grab him and hold him steady. “Hey, be careful there.”

“My knight in shining armor,” Louis responds, pretending to swoon. He doesn’t trust himself to let go of Polaroid-Camera’s hand, but the good thing is they don’t seem to be in a hurry to let go either. “Can I have a name so I can thank you for this kind service?”

“Why, it is Prince Zayn at your service,” he plays along with a wink, picking back up his camera. Louis’ heart picks up speed and he keeps replaying that wink in his mind. “And what about you? Who might you be?”

“I’m Louis,” he replies, attempting to shake the hand that he is still holding. Both of them are probably going to have extremely sweaty hands when they are done but Louis doesn’t care. At that moment, he hears a Britney Spears song come on and his hips start swaying subconsciously. “Oi, come on Zayn! This is a classic, we gotta dance!”

Zayn looks at him with an amused smirk. “You can barely walk and you really want to attempt dancing right now? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, mate.”

“I am a recipe for disaster,” Louis counters, gesturing with his free hand in a way that would be embarrassing if he were sober. Zayn just keeps laughing and watching as Louis does his ridiculous moves and screams the lyrics. “Don’t you know that you’re toxic?!”

As he’s standing there, practically dancing without really moving, he becomes more and more in love with Zayn’s laugh. He decides that he’s going to save that sound in his brain for days when he’s upset and needs a pick-me-up.

About two songs pass with them just standing like that, and Louis would feel guilty but every time he looks over at Zayn the other man is completely content where he is. At one point Louis thinks he even starts moving his feet to Louis’ rhythm (or lack thereof).

“So,” Louis says as he slowly starts to sober up. “Are you here with anybody?”

“Er, no, not really,” Zayn responds. “Be a bit rude if I was, wouldn’t I? Spending all this time with you.”

“I’m sure they would understand,” Louis banters. “I have been told I am pretty adorable.”

“Oh is that so?” Zayn giggles again. “Are you here with somebody then?”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Yeah, traitors.” He still hasn’t been able to find them in the crowd of people – and he _has_ been looking, his eyes haven’t just been on Zayn this whole time despite what the security cameras may tell you. “They took me here because they think I’ve been too uptight since breaking up with my girlfriend, or something. Then they just left me to fend for myself while they went who-knows-where.”

When he looks at him again, Zayn’s face has dropped to a frown. “They left you alone while you were upset?”

Louis shrugs. “I mean, I don’t feel that upset really.” _Not since seeing your beautiful brown eyes at least_ , he thinks. He hopes he’s sobered enough that that thought won’t come out of his mouth this time. “She and I both knew it was time, really, but it’s still a bit hard when it’s someone who for a while you genuinely thought you’d be with forever.”

Zayn nods. “I get that completely. Still don’t think it was right of them to leave you on your own, though. Especially in a place like this.”

“Well what about you?” Louis questions. “You came here alone too.”

“Guess you’re right,” Zayn laughs. “But probably not for the same reason everybody else did – like, I came here to practice taking pictures with lower lighting.”

“Am I keeping you from your work, then?” Louis asks, feeling like he should move along now that he can probably stand on his own two feet. But Zayn’s hand is still there in his, sweaty and calloused as it is.

“Nah,” Zayn assures with that magical smile of his. Who allowed someone to have such a perfect smile? “I had taken quite a few already. Besides, it’s nice to talk to someone from time to time.”

“Yeah,” Louis agrees with a smile. _Especially when they have as nice a face as yours._ “Hey, could I see some of the pictures you’ve taken? Don’t know if you’re, like, protective of them or something.”

“No, of course you can,” Zayn says. “But, uh, we’ll have to stop holding hands in order for me to show you them.” He laughs.

“Right,” Louis responds. “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t fall this time.” He lets go and watches as Zayn wipes his hand on his jeans. He bites at his lip, wondering why a stranger wiping his sweaty hand on his jeans is so attractive to him. _Get it together, Louis_.

Zayn reaches for the bag around his shoulders, which Louis hadn’t even noticed he was wearing, and pulls it down to reach inside one of the first pockets. He searches for a few moments and Louis swears his eyes are glowing while on his quest. Glowing because this is a part of his soul, his art. Louis feels honored to experience seeing such a thing.

Finally Zayn pulls out several and hands them to Louis. Louis holds them gently, afraid he will break them somehow if he’s not careful. From beside him, Zayn laughs. “Don’t worry babe, Polaroids are stable. The only way to rip one is if you are actively trying to.”

Despite those words though, Louis continues being delicate with them and switching from photo to photo very slowly. He eventually arrives at one that doesn’t look like it was taken at the club – rather it looks like a sunset, perhaps taken inside a moving car?

He holds it up and just points at it, not sure he trusts his mouth to convey how much he loves it. “Oh you like that one?” Zayn asks. “Yeah I took that one on my way here while I was at a stop light. Someone came up behind me just as I was getting the flash ready and, yeah, it got blurry from that.” He smiles. “That’s what I love about, like, Polaroids. They are instant but you never truly know what you’re going to get when it’s done fading.”

“Definitely,” Louis breathes, staring at it one last time and then handing them all back. “You’re proper talented at this, like. Is that what you are studying? Photography?”

“Yeah,” Zayn confirms, putting the Polaroids back in his bag. “I want to, like, inspire people. Have them look at a picture by me and feel as amazing as I do taking them.”

Louis nods, still thinking about that sunset. “Well, I tell you lad, you’re already killing that, like. That was breathtaking.”

Zayn’s grin widens, his eyes glowing like they did earlier. “Thank you,” he says softly. “Really.”

Louis almost-whispers “you’re welcome” then clears his throat. “Could we take one of those then? You and me? Don’t know how, like, hard it is to take selfies but-”

“Of course,” Zayn assures, already scooching closer to him with both hands on his special machine now. “I’ve never really done a selfie with this before, but I’m up for a challenge.” He giggles.

On Zayn’s cue, Louis squeezes in closer to him and waits as Zayn moves the Polaroid around until he’s satisfied.

The light flashes. Louis is pretty positive he blinked – in fact he’s pretty positive you won’t even be able to see his face in the final picture. Maybe just a half of it.

All the same, the first words out of his mouth as it prints out in Zayn’s hand are, “Can I keep it?!”

He’s immediately embarrassed by how he practically squealed out those words, but Zayn just smiles. “Of course you can.”

Louis holds himself back from making another embarrassing sound, but just barely. He takes the photo and starts shaking it to make it fade faster. As he does Zayn starts laughing yet again. Louis looks up at the man with an inquisitive eyebrow. What did he do that was so funny this time?

“You know,” Zayn says with an ever-growing smirk present. “The Polaroid doesn’t actually develop faster when you shake it, that’s just a myth.”

“You know,” Louis replies, mischief oozing through him as he starts shaking it even faster to mess with him. “I might agree with you if it weren’t for the fact that it’s already starting to fade.” He holds it up to Zayn’s face, who just blinks at it.

After holding his stare for a little bit, Zayn collapses in giggles again. He’s a very giggly person, and Louis finds that positively adorable. “Yeah, okay, you got me.”

Louis looks down at the forming picture one more time and then back up at him. “You know, you’re gonna be famous one day, I just know it. With talent like this.”

“You can’t even see it yet,” Zayn replies behind a blush. “How can you call me talented without even being able to see it yet?”

“I saw those other photos didn’t I?” Louis challenges, reaching in his pocket. “Here, you should sign it. That way I can say I knew you before you were a famous photographer.”

Zayn shakes his head, the blush on his face increasing as he takes the sharpie and writes his signature on it. Louis looks down, whistling. “Everything about you is perfect isn’t it? Even your autograph is a whole other level. Wow.” He sweats, choosing his next words carefully. “Hey, would you maybe like to-?”

He doesn’t finish that sentence though, because once he looks up, Zayn’s gone. He squints, looking in every direction he possibly can, but he can’t find that face, that perfectly slick black hair, that Polaroid camera that printed out the picture in his hand.

After basically spinning around in a circle three times, he sighs. Did he do something to offend Zayn? Did Zayn somehow figure out that he was romantically interested and feel uncomfortable with his advances? Because Louis would have stopped, if he had known that was the case. He supposes it’s also possible that Zayn just really had to leave and didn’t have time to say goodbye, but his anxious brain finds that the least likely out of all the scenarios just described.

He stands there a while longer, even though he doesn’t, realistically, think that Zayn is just in the bathroom and on his way back. He eventually decides it’s dumb to be standing here awkwardly in the middle of this club waiting for a practically-stranger to come back when he probably never will.

Louis puts the Polaroid carefully in his wallet – it’s almost completely clear now – and starts walking forward. His left foot slips on something and as he looks down to find the culprit, he realizes it’s the sharpie he gave Zayn to sign with. He picks it up. “How poetic. Truly a Cinderella situation, innit?”

He shoves the sharpie into his pocket and fishes out his phone. He then clicks on his group chat with Niall and Liam and types out, _Where are you f***heads? Xx_

As he walks out the door, he takes one final look back at the crowd and grips his wallet. He really hopes one day he will see that boy again.

***

For days after that Louis finds himself replaying that night in his head as well as randomly reaching into his wallet and staring at that beautiful Polaroid, now fully formed. He feels absolutely pathetic about this. It was only like five seconds in the grand scheme of things. He should probably be checked into therapy due to these obsessive thoughts and emotions.

Even his friends agree, evidently. Last night he could no longer keep these thoughts just between himself and diaries – he’s never been good at that, really. So he tried to talk to Liam about it, but that just made him feel even worse – if that’s possible.

“I understand that meeting someone interesting after getting out of a long-term relationship is great,” the other boy had said. “But be careful of projecting onto him when you don't really even know him.”

It was one of those situations where he wished Liam had told him what he wanted to hear, but instead he told him what he needed to hear. Which is what best friends are for, Louis supposes, but after that he had decided to just drop it and give Liam a hug before going to bed and locking his emotions back inside his heart.

Louis sighs as his brain replays the quote. He wishes it would focus on something else, like for instance this one hour train ride he’s going to take soon. That’s an annoyingly long time to be on a train in his opinion, but it’s worth it to see his family.

Uni is on a very short break right now, and it just so happens that one of his sisters’ birthdays is happening during the break tomorrow. When his mum had asked him if he would be able to make it, he had been very vague, wanting it to be a surprise. Imagining the way his mum and sisters will react upon seeing him is enough to put a smile on his face, making this wait much less agonizing.

As he’s looking around, his eyes land on black hair that looks eerily familiar – as does the tattooed arm that reaches up to rub at it. He blinks a few times; surely this is a mirage and not the boy who mysteriously disappeared into the night. The person turns their head the slightest bit and Louis has to hold his mouth in order to not scream.

He wants to walk over there, thinks this is his chance to get some closure, to ask why Cinderella left the ball. As much as he wants to though, his legs will not let him. It feels like his brain is practically screaming at him to go over there but his body won’t cooperate.

Then, Louis’ train is pulling up in front of his face and just like last time the moment is gone. He breathes, getting on after the other people in front of him. He hopes whatever journey Zayn is on in life goes smoothly, hopes one day he will see his name lighting up photography magazines.

**2019**

The alarm clock, set to the tune of Bring Me To Life by Evanescence, breaks Louis from his sleep. He groans loudly, using every muscle in his body to slam that thing off. When he first told Liam he was going to change his work alarm to that song, Liam had called him ridiculous.

“No, see, it will be perfect,” Louis said. “Because it’s a song I already hate, so it will make me jolt awake to turn it the f*** off.”

Liam shook his head. “Why don’t you just stick to the system sounds at that point? They do the job and are far less irritating.”

Now, after the fourth morning of having that dumb song as the first thing he hears, he’s starting to think Liam was right. If he remembers, after school today he will change it back to the system noises.

He gets out of his bed, takes off his pajamas, and throws on a random shirt and pair of trousers. Perhaps he should put a little bit more thought into his clothes, but the way he sees it his students don’t care and he definitely isn’t getting paid enough to care.

As he heats up a kettle of Yorkshire tea, he thinks about what a long week it’s been. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his students to death, but his work children take a lot of time and energy away from his biological child, Freddie.

Freddie, his pride and joy, came into the world a little over three years ago. Nine months prior to that, Louis had been in a club drunk off his butt, looking to hook up. He found Briana there and got what he asked for – as well as what he didn’t.

It was a confusing few months for him, but as soon as he saw their baby’s face for the first time, he practically started sobbing. He knew right then and there that, as unexpected as this may have been, he was ready. He was ready to do whatever it took to be the best father he could be for this wonderful boy.

Louis smiles as he starts pouring his tea into his favorite mug, the one his mum got for him for his eighteenth birthday. Thinking about Freddie always puts a grin on his face; then it immediately slips off when he starts thinking about how much homework he still has to grade during lunch today.

He breathes, taking a sip of tea and not caring how much it burns going down. As a teacher he has built an immunity to super hot cups of caffeine. He puts his coat on and grabs his work bag, spilling a little bit of tea on his shoes in the process.

“S***,” he mutters, stomping his shoe really hard in a failing attempt to get the liquid off. Biting his lip, he practically runs to the car, hoping this isn’t one of those little things that foreshadows how the day is going to be bad.

“Don’t put that energy into the universe,” he tells himself. “It’s listening.” Sure enough, as soon as he reaches the highway, he gets behind the slowest car ever. “Dang it!” He mutters, having to physically stop himself from honking his horn as the person in front of him decides to go ten miles per hour behind the speed limit.

Somehow he miraculously makes it to the school parking lot with five minutes to spare. When he pulls up to his usual parking spot, he sees someone else has taken it already. Which is not a big deal on its own, really, but having to turn back around and find another spot when he’s already close to being late is just a pain.

Nonetheless, he finds another spot, and practically runs out the door with his bag and tea in hand. He makes a beeline for the break room to reheat his tea. He takes a moment to just take a few deep breaths and sip on his tea to calm down. The last thing kids this age need to see is their own teacher stressed out; school is already stressful enough on its own without having to watch your own teacher freak out.

“Alright,” Louis says to himself, wiping excess tea off his mouth and taking his stuff to his lecture theatre. A line has started forming at his door already, of drowsy faces, cranky faces, and nervous faces. “Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. Got behind a proper knob in traffic and, well, you know how it goes sometimes.” That makes them giggle.

He reaches into his bag for the key to the lecture theatre and… wait… where is it? “S***,” he mutters. “You gotta be f***ing kidding me.” The kids just keep watching, and more start to join them. Nobody reacts to Mr. Tomlinson cussing anymore – it’s just something that is constant, like sugar in cookies.

“Umm,” he turns back to the group after checking every last pocket of his bag and coming up dry. A few more bodies have joined the pack now. “Well loves it would seem I forgot me key.” He awkwardly scratches at his neck. “So, I guess we’ll just have to wait here for a janitor or sommat.” Everybody grumbles. One of the students, Deborah, looks like she’s trying to physically stop herself from going back out the exit. Anna is already pulling out a homework assignment and a pen; Louis is hoping she’s using homework from another lecture to pass the time and isn’t working on the assignment he was planning on collecting today.

He pinches his lips and reminds himself to have better faith in his students. He turns away from her and looks out at the hallway, waiting for someone to show up and save his soul. Deborah grumbles loudly after a good ten minutes have gone by, and Louis concurs with her assessment. He stares down at the last of the tea in his mug, taking small sips here and there.

Finally, they see one of the janitors passing by. “Hey,” Louis says kind of loudly. The janitor smiles that gentle smile they all seem to have and waves at him, keeping on moving. _Oh no you don’t,_ Louis thinks to himself. _I will not let you walk away from me the way the rest of this day has_. He starts walking towards the janitor – luckily for him, this one isn’t walking very fast and therefore it’s easy to catch up.

“Hey,” he repeats, and the janitor looks up at him with that weird almost self-deprecating look they all seem to wear when somebody actually acknowledges their existences outside of making fun of them. It makes Louis sad, that look and its connotations. “Listen, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I left my key at home by accident and really need to get into that lecture theatre. Can you help?”

The janitor looks over at his kids and back at him, that gentle smile coming back now. “Of course, Mr. Tomlinson.” It takes Louis a second to remember he’s wearing a nametag. He wishes this person was too so he could thank them properly and not look like a proper tool.

The two of them walk over to the door, a few students scooching to make sure they have enough space. Louis thinks they had more than enough space without the need for them to move, but it was really nice of them anyway. He has a good relationship with his students.

The janitor turns the key and Louis thanks them profoundly. He wishes he could do more for the janitorial staff at this lovely school; they truly work so hard and don’t get paid nearly enough. The kids all slowly but surely pile in and go to their seats, Louis closing the door after the last person is in.

“Well,” he begins, setting the mug on the desk and the bag by his feet. “I’m sorry for the late start loves. Hopefully it won’t happen again. We’re still gonna have an awesome lesson today though!” He claps his hands. “Now, if you all would take out your homework from last night and pass it towards the front.”

A few of them groan and Anna mutters, “You should have done it while we were waiting for the key. That’s what I did.” He pretends not to hear that.

***

After a day of so many small inconveniences adding up to create one big bad mood, Louis is more than happy to go home and collapse on the bed. Except he can’t stay there because he still has assignments to grade and, ideally, enough time to visit his baby before bedtime.

He rolls himself over, putting his two feet on the floor, and hears a text coming from his phone on the bedside table. He grumbles; it better not be someone cancelling or some other nonsense, since this day seems to just be full of it.

He opens it to see Liam’s name lighting up the screen and smiles - until he reads the message itself. _Hey, Louis. Was wondering if you wanted to go to a photo gallery with me and Harry this weekend?_

Harry. That’s Liam’s boyfriend - they’ve been dating for about three years now, and it’s a wonder Harry hasn’t pulled a ring out of his pocket yet. They’re so lovely together, it makes Louis sick.

 **LT:** _And just what makes you think I want to be a third wheel on you 2’s romantic photo gallery date, on a weekend no less?_

 **LP:** _*sad emoji* Come on, we rarely ever hang out anymore, and I really think you’d like the artist they’re showcasing. His photos are sick._

Louis exhales, rubbing his fingers through his temples. Even through a phone Liam somehow manages to guilt trip him.

 **LT:** _Fine, but no make out sessions permitted while we’re there._

Liam just sends him back a smiley face, not even commenting on that. Louis goes to the kitchen to get dinner and recaffeinate, hoping to knock these homework sheets out as fast as possible.

***

That weekend, Louis starts the drive over to the address Liam told him about, not really being particularly excited - or unexcited, necessarily. He’s already looking forward to going back home, reminding his friends that he has to be back by four because Briana has to work.

He didn’t research any of the event, wanting to be surprised when he first enters the gallery. Either that or he just didn’t have enough time to look it up, he’s not really sure.

Pulling into the small parking lot, it doesn’t take long before he spots Liam’s license plate and pulls in beside it. Liam and Harry stop their conversation to send Louis smiles and small waves. He sends a small wave back at them.

He exits his seat with his bag and one of those takeout mugs of tea in hand; it’s never as good as the type he has at home, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Especially when dealing with two characters like Liam and Harry.

“Hey Louis,” Harry greets, getting out of the passenger side with a smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without tea in your hand.” He laughs.

Louis forces a light chuckle out. “Yeah, well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a smile on your face.”

“Thank you,” Harry says, his smile growing even wider - if that’s possible.

Liam circles around to the two of them and in the most dapper voice ever, says, “Shall we?” and points towards the entrance. Louis is definitely going to use this as ammunition to embarrass him in the future.

Harry giggles and follows after him. Louis shakes his head, trailing behind. These two don’t even have to make out with each other to be beyond intimate.

As the three of them get closer to the door, Louis feels something weird in his chest. He can’t explain what it is, why his heart is beating faster as he passes by each flower on the sidewalk. It’s almost like the feeling when you meet someone for the first time and already know you can’t trust them – like nature warning him. Except, Louis thinks, this feeling is much happier than that, much less scary.

So… what is nature trying to warn him about, then?

He shakes himself. This is ridiculous. They’re just going to a photo gallery – who cares? He doesn’t. He’s never really been that into photography. Well, not since that one time, in his first year of Uni, with that guy at the club…

Liam opens the door to the gallery like a proper gentleman. Harry says “thank you” and even does a very tiny bow at him. Louis has to try really hard not to laugh at that. He follows in next, mutters a “thank you” as well, but sure doesn’t bow because that’s way too embarrassing.

As soon as they enter though, Louis skids to a halt. He’s vaguely aware of Liam trying to get his attention, but all his eyes and mind can focus on is that name on the top of the gallery. _Zayn Malik_. His mouth goes dry.

“Earth to Louis,” comes Harry’s voice, waving his hands in front of Louis’ face. Liam’s a lot more to-the-point, lightly bumping his hip with Louis’ hip. Louis breaks out of his daze and looks at Liam.

“Why are you hip-bumping me?” he asks, blinking. Even if he’s looking away from the sign, it’s still repeated in his brain.

Liam crosses his arms. “Why are you dozing out before we’ve even seen any of the actual pictures?”

Louis breathes out in an attempt to look more tired than he is. “I don’t know, guess I just got work on me mind.”

He can’t in good conscience tell Liam that he’s getting like this because the artist is that boy from Uni who he met one time in a club. How ridiculous does that sound? It sounds ridiculous to Louis himself.

Liam raises an eyebrow with an expression like he doesn’t totally believe that excuse, but eventually shrugs. “Come on, let’s go look around, yeah?”

Louis just nods and follows after the two of them as they step in front of him. He looks at each photo very closely, reading the little blurbs underneath each one. Zayn Malik sure has come a far way from Polaroids of the sunset while the car is in drive – and yes, Louis still remembers what that photo looks like. How could he forget it?

This photo in front of him is also pretty amazing, however. It’s the ocean – or, some body of water, but Louis’ pretty sure it’s the ocean – and the sun is shining so bright in the photo. It almost makes Louis feel like he’s at the beach with Freddie and his mother, feet against the tide and legs in the sand. It’s outstanding.

He moves onto another photo – this time it’s one of a human being. Long blonde hair mid-flip, wide smile, outside and surrounded by trees. It looks like it just finished raining if he had to guess. He reads the blurb underneath.

_I am extremely honored that my friend Gigi Hadid believed in my abilities enough to choose me to take pictures of her for her very first photoshoot. She could have had any professional photographer out there but she trusted me and gave me one of my first big breaks. Thank you Gi._

Louis smiles. _Of course she trusted you_ , he thinks to himself. _You have more talent than all of those big shots put together._

His smile falls. He’s thankful nobody can hear what he’s thinking; if they did, they’d no doubt find it pathetic he is so obsessed with someone from nine years ago who probably doesn’t remember he exists.

He moves on from the picture of Gigi Hadid. He has plans to catch up to Liam and Harry, tell them he’s not feeling well and is going to return home, but then he once again finds himself frozen in place. That’s because, right there, is the photographer himself.

Louis should walk away. He should go to his car, his friends, _something_. Instead though, he finds himself going towards Zayn. Slowly, but surely. As he does, he finds it completely unfair that Zayn’s beauty has not deteriorated since Uni – that’s supposed to be when people peak physically, and yet here Zayn is, possibly even more beautiful than he was back then. He must truly be from another planet or something.

He is talking to someone else, but his face turns towards Louis for a split second and a look of recognition appears on his face. Louis’ heartbeat speeds up and Zayn keeps looking back at him, as if to make sure he actually remembers him.

“Yeah that’s great,” comes Zayn’s voice as he smiles at the person in front of him. “That really means so much to me, thank you.” They hug and then the other person saunters off. Louis stands there, not sure if he should say anything or not. Zayn turns towards him again. “Umm… Hi? Is there something I can help you with? You look pale.”

 _Well,_ Louis thinks to himself. _Nice to know I’m great at keeping my emotions on the inside._ Maybe it wasn’t a look of recognition after all, maybe he was actually freaked out by Louis’ paleness.

Zayn keeps staring, moving his head in a way that says ‘speak if you’re going to.’ _Say something. Tell him about how beautiful his photos are, how happy you are to be here, something._

“Um, your hair is lovely,” Louis finally says. He mentally slaps himself. _Not that you nutter._

Zayn laughs but doesn’t smile. “Umm… thank you?”

Louis bites his lip, trying to think of something else to redeem himself. “Your photos too, like. Never seen a picture that could mesmerize me like this until now.”

Now Zayn is actually smiling, and the butterflies return to Louis’ stomach, pollinating every tiny seed in the dandelion that is his heart. “Thanks man,” he says. Louis starts to smile himself, though his entire body feels ready to burst open.

A look similar to the one from earlier enters Zayn’s face – the one of realization, or was it concern?

“I’m sorry, I know this is weird,” Zayn starts, getting closer. _If this is what’s considered weird,_ Louis thinks. _Please continue being as weird as possible._ “But, uh, have I met you before?”

He’s close enough that Louis could reach out and grab his face to kiss him if it were socially acceptable – which it isn’t, he reminds himself.

He swallows, trying to will his mouth to open; to say, _yes, we met at a party and took a Polaroid I still have in my house._ No words are coming though and Zayn’s face is getting more and more confused because, obviously, it takes no time or energy to say ‘no’ if that’s the answer.

And just like that, his moment is over. Because someone wearing a hoodie that covers all hair except the blonde bangs, and sunglasses inside, saunters over. “Hey Zayn,” she greets, removing her sunglasses and hoodie in one go.

“Gigi!” Zayn calls excitedly, opening his arms to bring her in for a hug. “Oh my gosh I’m so happy you could make it.”

She scoffs. “As if I’d miss the opening night of my best friend’s gallery.”

“Oh yeah?” He pushes at her teasingly. “I’m still your best friend? Even though you got super famous and met everyone you could ever want or need to know.”

She pushes him right back. “You will always be my best friend, you nerd.” They giggle and start into a spiel where they catch up on what they have missed from each other. Louis should go; this is too intimate for him to be creeping on. There is also still so much he hasn’t seen of the gallery.

He wills his feet to walk him towards the next section of photos, though he still keeps looking back at Zayn and Gigi no matter how hard he tries not to.

He finds himself becoming an absolute creeper, unable to deter himself from Zayn’s face for more than a few seconds. He’s looking at the pictures but he’s not really seeing them, he’s skimming the blurbs but he’s not really reading them. He’s positive he looks absolutely ridiculous, staying here at this one spot and possibly blocking the way of people who actually want to see the picture in question.

Eventually, someone taps him on the shoulder. He lets out a small sound at the shock of being touched when his mind is elsewhere. He turns around and see it’s just his friends. “Oh, hi Liam. Hi Harry. What’s up?”

Liam raises his eyebrows. “Have you not checked the time? You have to be back home soon to take care of Freddie.”

He looks at his phone and sure enough… “S***. Totally lost track, there.”

“I know,” Harry sighs happily. “Isn’t he just so talented? I wish I could take pictures like that.”

“I so agree,” Louis forces out. Harry doesn’t seem to notice or acknowledge the tone. Liam, on the other hand, is looking at him with an expression that tells him they will be having a discussion when his boyfriend isn’t around.

“Alright,” Louis claps his hands. “Well, I’m gonna go to my car now. Thanks for keeping me in check Payno.” He walks away, thinking that’s all that is going to be said for now, but as soon as he twists the keys to unlock his car door, Liam appears in front of him again. “Hello Liam. Seeing as how I am already going to be late, I would prefer if we talked about whatever you want to talk about another time? Surely since you have a baby yourself you will understand.” He ends with a smile.

Liam sighs and shakes his head. “Fine, we will. But just answer one simple question for me first: is it him?”

Louis swallows. “That’s such a vague question, Liam, there are a number of ‘him’s you could be referring to.”

Liam puts a hand on his hip. “No there aren’t.”

A buzz goes off on his phone and he looks at it. “Well, Briana just texted me so I gotta hit the road. See ya next time!” He gets into the car, buckles his seatbelt, and puts it in drive, trying to keep his face void of any emotion.

Still he hears Liam call after him, “Sounds like a yes to me!” If he had more energy he would make sure to give him the finger, but he doesn’t right now, so he moves along.

***

When Louis arrives to pick up Freddie, he miraculously has twenty five seconds to spare. Still Briana glares at him when he enters and says, “You’re late.”

“No I’m not,” he points to his phone. “I’m right on-” he looks at her face again which is now a smirk. “Hey! F*** you!”

Briana diverges into laughter, and so does Louis because her laughter has always been contagious. She wipes her eyes. “But for real, what took so long? Usually you’re here ten minutes early on your worst days.” She grabs one of Freddie’s toys and hands it to him.

“Mr. Octopus!” he says happily, twisting it around his fingers.

“And don’t try to tell me you had extra assignments to work on,” she warns pointedly. “I can tell by your face that’s not it.”

Louis blinks through his wide eyes, wondering how mothers - even mothers he’s not biologically related to - seem to all have this sixth sense where they know exactly when something’s wrong.

“Well?” she asks after a few moments. “Are you gonna tell me or just stand there pretending to be confused?”

“You’re gonna be late for your shift,” he stalls, licking his lip.

She snickers, putting on her jacket. “How nice of you to care about my timeliness when it gets you out of talking about things.”

Throughout this whole conversation, Freddie has been pulling at Louis’ trousers and repeating “daddy!” His voice has finally reached the point where it switches from excited to exasperated, when Briana turns towards him.

“Love, me and daddy are trying to talk.”

“But I have something to show him!” Freddie says, like that’s more important than anything else. Louis hides a smile.

“You can after I’m done talking,” she compromises. He still doesn’t remove his hand from Louis’ legs though. She looks at her phone and lets out a breath. “Alright well, I have to go now anyway. But I want you to know that if you do wanna talk about whatever happened today, I am here. Just because we weren’t meant to be doesn’t mean I don’t care about you alright?”

He shakes his head. “Briana, nothing is-”

“Shh,” she silences, bringing him in for a hug, carefully avoiding their son. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, alright?” She pulls back. “But don’t lie, either. That’s a bad influence on our kid.”

He laughs lightly, waving her goodbye. She really is a lovely person; no matter the circumstances of their worlds being intertwined, he wouldn’t trade her friendship for the world.

It was mid to late 2015. Louis was in a bad place mentally, not going very far in his field, and feeling like he should just give up. That’s when he turned to drinking.

He was out at the bar one night – didn’t even get carded this time because they had seen him four nights in a row and remembered his face. He was even starting to recognize some of the other regulars too – there was Olivia with her red wine, Valire with her coconut-rum-and-coke, and Hubert with his long island tea. This probably should have been a sign for him at the time, but it wasn’t, so he ordered two shots.

As he downed each shot, then ordered two more, he saw a face he had never seen before. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a gorgeous red dress. He wasn’t even drunk yet but was already catching a feeling in his trousers and knew at once he had to make his way over.

So he did. She was there with a friend who was still looking at the menu, so he tried his luck. “Hey love. Can I buy you a drink? Or a snack, if you’d rather?” He smiled, hoping to look as sincere as possible. The bartender moved Louis’ second round of shots over to where he was now without a single word.

“Oh a drink _and_ a snack? Really trying to get in my good graces I see,” she teased. Her humor was already on a similar level with his and his pants grew tighter. “Sure, you can buy me a drink. One champagne please.”

Louis smiled. “You heard her Brian,” he said, addressing the bartender. “Wait, you did hear her right?”

The bartender rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I did. One champagne coming right up.”

“Thanks Brian, you’re the best,” Louis said. He downed his second round of shots a little bit slower, hoping to get to know this lovely lady and her friend. “So… I’m Louis. What’s your name?”

She had giggled at his complete lack of shame in his forwardness. “I’m Briana.”

They ended up talking for a while, and at some point she left her friend to go back to a room with Louis. Neither of them are really sure how, but they woke up the next morning naked. They both decided to get breakfast together and stay in touch. They made really great friends.

One day, Louis answered the phone to a very frantic Briana. “Louis, I’m pregnant.”

He hadn’t known how to react. His reply was very distant, almost a whisper. “You are?”

“Yes!” She practically screamed. “What am I gonna do?”

He was speechless. “I don’t know? You… you’re the one who decides what you’re going to do.”

“But I don’t know… I just don’t know.”

“I don’t know either,” he cleared his throat. “Umm… How about you call me back later, yeah? I need to think about this.”

He went back to his house and laid down on his bed without sleeping, thinking a little too hard. Obviously she wouldn’t have called him unless she was really considering having the baby. Was Louis ready for a baby? He didn’t know.

She didn’t call him back until the next day, saying she needed to talk to the rest of her family and friends about it. But that she had decided to keep the baby. “If you don’t want to be a father yet, I will manage. This was unexpected for both of us, and I don’t expect you to change everything you had planned because of this.”

Louis had been offended she would even say such a thing. Yes, he was scared, and nervous, and unsure if he could handle it, but not being a father to his kid? Out of the question.

Things were hard at first, but looking back on it now, he wouldn’t change a single second of it. It made him stronger, and gave him the best son to ever exist.

Freddie starts pulling again, bringing his mind back to the present. “Hey lad! Let’s see what you got there then.” Louis starts walking towards the nearest couch, and Freddie is obviously getting impatient the longer he has to wait to show whatever it is. The second Louis’ butt hits the couch, Freddie climbs right on top of him, holding out a paper he drew on.

Louis can’t completely tell what’s going on if he’s honest - it looks like three stick figures with a bunch of swirls and different markers over them. Still he says, “Wow lad! That’s amazing!”

Freddie beams. “Mommy taught me how to use marks.”

“Did she?!” Louis replies excitedly. He nods, smile only growing bigger. “That’s amazing! You’ll have to teach me how to use them sometime.” Freddie doesn’t respond to that as enthusiastically as Louis wanted him to, already crawling off of Louis’ lap and moving onto the next thing.

The next thing, this time, is his favorite book - Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. He sits next to Louis, putting the book on his lap with a look of anticipation on his face. “You want me to read this? It’s not even bedtime yet, silly.”

Freddie pouts. He obviously doesn’t care that it’s not bedtime - he wants to hear it again anyway. Louis just laughs, says “okay”, and opens up the first page. Freddie either falls asleep by the end of it, or pretends to fall asleep so that Louis will carry him up to his bed - which he did too until he was too big to be carried anymore, so he can’t judge, really.

In any event, he carries his lovely child up into his bed and lets him lay there until he wants to wake up again, or until morning comes, whichever happens first.

***

“Daddy,” Freddie says from the backseat. “Where are we going?”

“I told you lad, we’re going to a photo gallery.” Louis checked the venue’s website last night - Zayn’s work will be up for another five days.

“Will there be ice cream at the phot-gally?” Freddie asks, and Louis gets so distracted he almost falls off the side of the road, muttering explicatives. His son is going to grow up with quite a tongue.

As he tries to compose himself, he turns towards Freddie one more time. “Look lad, I love you but I can’t focus on me driving if you keep asking questions.” He turns back to the road. “So, just, play with your toys and I’ll make sure to get you ice cream later, yeah?”

“Yes!” Freddie replies excitedly, pulling out his toys and creating a universe where a mermaid has to save the world from a space bear named space-bear-sa.

A horn honks behind them and Louis flips the bird, forgetting for just a second there is a child in this car. He remembers one second too late as Freddie says in a high pitched voice, “You stop right there, spacebearsa! I shall stop you with my super secret powers in my middle finger! Poww!”

He tries to stick up the mermaid’s middle finger, and when he realizes he can’t, he sticks up his own instead. Louis sighs.

***

When they enter the gallery Louis looks around, recognizing a lot of the pictures from yesterday. He hopes there will be a little less people today, since it’s a Holy day or whatever. He tries to find Zayn’s face but comes up empty.

His internal monologue is interrupted by Freddie shaking their intertwined hands and pointing. “Daddy! Look! The beach!” He lets go of Louis’ hand and starts running towards the picture.

“Freddie!” Louis calls firmly. “Stop running!” He follows him as quick as his old legs will let him while carefully avoiding other people. He eventually reaches his son, who is touching the picture with a look of awe on his face. “What have your mom and I told you about running in public places?”

“Oh, sorry,” Freddie says, not sounding very convincing. “But look at the pretty beach!”

Louis bites at his lip, trying not to cause a scene in this establishment. “Yes,” he tries. “The beach is very pretty.” It actually is, but it’s hard for him to truly appreciate it with how frustrated he is at his child for running and possibly breaking something.

“Well thank you,” a voice from behind them says. Louis turns around slowly. “That’s what I thought too, so I took a picture of it.” Zayn winks, laughing. Freddie doesn’t laugh back, very shy around the stranger. Louis tries his best to laugh at the same time his heart feels like it’s stuck in his throat.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Zayn tells Louis with such a genuine smile that he could puke. _Get yourself together._ “Oh and who is this little guy?” Zayn zooms in on Freddie, bending down to reach his level.

“Say hi, Freddie,” Louis says. Freddie obliges, albeit so quietly they can barely hear him. Zayn isn’t offended in the least - he seems just happy to be in Freddie’s presence. “Tell Zayn how much you love his photo.” Freddie considers it but is ultimately too shy to say it. Zayn just giggles.

“That’s okay,” Zayn assures, then turns to Louis. “How old is he?” It’s almost a whisper, as if he’s afraid of Freddie hearing it and getting offended. That’s cute.

“Three,” Louis tells him with pride, a certain spark forming in his heart that only comes up when he thinks about how much time has gone by already.

“That’s awesome,” Zayn responds, his features relaxing. “I love kids so much. Would love to have some of my own one day.” Louis nods, not able to think of what to say that wouldn’t be super embarrassing.

It turns out he doesn’t even have to, because Freddie is pulling at his trousers now. “Daddy?”

He bends down slightly. “Yes Freddie?”

“When are we gonna get ice cream?”

Louis sighs. “We just got here lad, we’re gonna look around before we get ice cream.”

“But I want ice cream now,” Freddie says like it’s the only thing that matters in the whole world. To him it probably is.

“Actually,” Zayn intervenes, catching Louis off guard. “There’s a Dairy Queen right next door.” Louis studies him, almost hoping Zayn detects the passive aggression he’s sending his way for encouraging his son’s bad habits. He doesn’t, or if he does he chooses to ignore it.

“Yay!” Freddie cheers. “Daddy, let’s go to Dairy Queen!” He’s already trying to run in that direction, but Louis holds him back.

“Hold on lad, you don’t even know where you’re going yet.” Freddie looks like he’s a good few seconds away from a meltdown, so Louis just rubs at his temples. Maybe they’ll have some tea he can drink at this Dairy Queen, while they’re at it. “Well Zayn, sorry to leave your lovely gallery so soon but er, duty calls.”

Zayn giggles. “That’s alright, I’d ditch my exhibit for ice cream too.” He pauses, looking like he has more he wants to say. “Actually, that sounds like a great idea. Could I come with you guys?”

“You… want to come with us to get ice cream?” Louis questions, and right now he wishes he was his son - so blissfully unaware of how that question feels. “But what about your photos?”

“It will be okay,” Zayn promises like it’s nothing. “Can’t really tell them much more than the blurbs can, now can I?” He giggles again. “Besides, I’ve been standing for too long. Could use a break to sit down, like.”

Freddie keeps pulling, trying to release his hand from Louis’ grip. “Well, alright,” Louis says, shrugging. “If you want to.” He turns around to go to the exit and Freddie cheers, thankful they are finally moving. He listens as Zayn’s footsteps follow after them and has to keep repeating to himself _keep it together_.

When they enter Dairy Queen, the amount of people in there are double the amount of people back at Zayn’s photo gallery. _Shame_ , Louis thinks to himself. _They don’t know what kind of talent they’re missing right next door_.

As he looks back and forth between the amount of people in front of him and the artist behind him, his mouth twists. “Are you sure you have time to wait for this?”

Zayn just smiles. “I am. Would make the time go by faster if you and your little dude would talk to me though.” He winks. _If it weren’t for the ‘little dude’ part, that would sound almost like a flirt,_ Louis thinks to himself.

“Well, uh, where do I start?” Louis stutters a tiny bit, trying to pass it off as a cough. “My name is Louis and uh… I’m a teacher. I teach History to kids aged fourteen and fifteen. Umm… I like it for the most part. I mean.” He rubs at his nose. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a student meself and all but, like, yeah.” He shrugs, deciding Zayn doesn’t need to hear the ‘but’ when for all intents and purposes they just met.

Zayn, for his part, doesn’t ask for the ‘but’. He just smiles and nods like that’s all he needed to hear. “Cool.” He turns to Freddie now. “And what about you? What are your favorite things to do? Do you have a favorite superhero, or Princess?”

Louis is almost afraid he’s going to be shy again like before, but apparently Zayn taking them to Dairy Queen was all that needed to be done for Freddie to open his heart to him. “I like getting ice cream and riding my tricycle - not at the same time. I tried that once and hit my head.” He pouts at the memory.

“Oh that sounds awful,” Zayn comments, frowning.

“Mhmm,” Freddie agrees solemnly. He recovers a moment later. “Oh, and I like throwing balls in hoops like Troy Bolton.”

Zayn tosses Louis a smirk that says ‘you raised your kid on High School Musical?’ Louis just shrugs, sending back a look that he hopes conveys ‘a classic is a classic bro.’ Freddie continues talking to Zayn about things he likes, and then it’s their turn in line. Louis doesn’t interrupt, as he knows what he wants anyway.

“Hello,” the overwhelmed teenager at the register greets. “What can I get started for you today?”

“Heya love,” Louis says with a smile, attempting to ease their stress the best he can. He knows how intimidating first jobs are. “Can I please get one small Oreo Blizzard, one chicken strip kids’ meal with a side of fries, and uh… just a small coke and cheeseburger for myself I guess.” He pauses, counting his money. “Oh, and whatever he wants as well.” He motions to Zayn.

Zayn deters his attention from Freddie to look at Louis. “Hm? Oh, you don’t have to do that. I can pay for myself.”

Louis shakes his head. “No way. You’re our guest right now.”

Zayn looks like he’s ready to fight some more, but the teenager cuts in. “Excuse me sir, I’m sorry, but did you want that Oreo Blizzard as the hot cocoa or as the cold beverage?”

“The cold beverage.”

The worker nods, typing that in. “And for you sir?”

It takes Zayn a second, again, to realize he’s being addressed. Realizing he’s lost the battle to pay for his own drink, he breathes and says, “Just a small Mocha MooLatte for me, thank you.”

The worker tells Louis his total. He hands over his cash, grabbing the receipt when it prints. “Thank you, your order will be right out. Have a good day.”

“Thank you,” he replies with another smile, putting a five dollar bill in the tip jar. “Same for you.”

The three of them sit down at the closest table to the hand off area, and Freddie finally goes quiet - but not still, as he’s bouncing in his seat out of excitement for the ice cream and fries. It takes about seven minutes before their order is called out. Freddie tries to run over to the hand off area but then realizes he is too small to reach the food; lucky for him, Louis is tall enough and leads them back to the table with everything in his hands.

He takes a bite of his cheeseburger like he hasn’t eaten in days, when in reality he simply hasn’t eaten in three hours. He then remembers he’s in the company of someone other than his son and quickly ducks his head, wiping the excess grease off his face. When he looks back up, Zayn is giggling at him. “Sorry,” Louis mumbles, embarrassed.

“Hey, no judgment here,” Zayn promises, taking a sip of his MooLatte. “Good food is good food.” He chuckles again, sending goosebumps to Louis’ skin.

“Cheers to that,” Louis agrees, raising his Coke for a moment and taking a sip. “Alright, your turn now.”

“My turn?” Zayn asks through his straw, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Tell us about you. What you like, your favorite superheroes _and_ princesses.”

Zayn puts his fingers on his chin, considering this. “Well, don’t know if you knew this but I really like photography,” he teases with a big laugh. “I also like listening to music; R&B is my favorite genre but I’ve come to like a little bit of everything. Umm… I’d say my favorite superhero is Iron Man and my favorite princess is Jasmine.” He smiles widely so Louis can see the chocolate in his teeth from the drink.

Louis smiles right back, picking the cheese off the paper that his now finished cheeseburger was inside. “Iron Man, huh? Quite a conflicting pick right there.” Zayn’s eyes light up like he’s got a million rebuttals to that statement and Louis hopes one day he gets to hear all of them. For now though, he just laughs. “No hate from me bro, I think he’s cool too.”

“Good,” Zayn says, going back to drinking out of his straw.

Freddie uses the pause in the conversation to tap on Louis’ shoulder. Louis turns toward him. “What is it lad?”

“Can we go home yet?” Freddie asks.

“Did you finish all your fries already?”

“No, but I wanna go home anyway.”

Louis wrinkles his nose, trying to keep his tone cool but firm. “Freddie, we have a guest. We aren’t leaving until our guest finishes too.”

Freddie has started crying now, and Louis doesn’t have to look around to know that all of the eyes are on him. He turns to Zayn apologetically, and the other man just grins back in sympathy. “It’s okay,” he promises. “Thank you for the coffee.”

Louis just nods. What he really wants to do is ask for Zayn’s phone number, what times he will be free from work to maybe hang out again, something. But he missed his chance and now all he can focus in on is the sound of Freddie crying.

“Okay, _okay_ ,” Louis says, trying his best to make sure Freddie can hear him over his cries. “Look Freddie, we’re going home okay? Take your bag, and the remainder of your Blizzard, and let’s get in the car.”

Louis picks up his own drink and, sending one final look to Zayn, starts walking. After a few steps he turns around to make sure Freddie is following him (which he is). He’s still crying, but he always does this; he will stop crying once they start passing familiar road signs that he knows.

Even if the day didn’t end up exactly the way he was hoping - it never does when you are a parent - he thinks they all had a good day together, and Louis would even wager to say it’s been one of the best days of his life in recent times.

***

It’s Monday, which means it’s back to teaching teenagers about how the UK messed everything up. Last night he dropped Freddie back off with Briana earlier than he usually would have because he had let Zayn distract him from grading the assignments he needed to grade this weekend. He didn’t tell her that, obviously, but based on her facial expression he has a feeling he will be getting an earful of questions about it whenever they’re both free again.

Since he wasn’t able to get Zayn’s phone number yesterday, he has a plan today. After school lets out, he will show up there, totally cool, calm, collected. He will ask for Zayn’s number so that they can do things that friends do together. It’s a perfect plan, can’t go wrong at all.

Soon the bell that signals the end of school rings, and Louis hangs back for a little bit to see if anyone has any questions that they didn’t want to ask in front of everybody else. Anna and Janee tend to have a few of them from time to time. When he watches the last person walk out, he smiles and packs up his stuff, not even bothering to check if he has something else he’s supposed to be doing today.

Before going back to his car, he makes a quick beeline for the teacher’s lounge and grabs one last refill of tea. He needs all the strength he can get to woo Mr. Malik.

Taking a burning sip of good luck, he goes to his car and starts on the now familiar path towards Zayn’s gallery. He feels almost like he’s on autopilot, like he’s floating towards his destination instead of driving there. It’s comforting, this feeling.

Until, of course, someone in front of him jams on their breaks and wakes him up from whatever euphoria he was inside. Louis honks his horn. “Hey, dumb-a***. Maybe if you weren’t on your phone you wouldn’t have needed to hit the brakes that hard.”

He breathes, trying to calm himself down and bring himself back to the way he felt just moments before, but it’s difficult. He knows he has a problem with road rage, he does, but it’s a hard habit to break when everybody on the roads doesn’t seem to know how to f***ing drive.

Eventually though, the traffic starts moving again. The end of the drive isn’t as relaxing as the beginning of it was, but who cares? He’s about to see Zayn, nothing can drag him down right now.

As Louis opens the door he finds himself suddenly getting nervous about what he’s going to say. Why? Why is he still so nervous? They had a great day yesterday, one where Louis got to see who Zayn really is, instead of just a blurry image from Year Four. So why, after that, is his heart still moving fast as he turns the handle and walks inside?

The exhibit is all but deserted today; Louis can see exactly one couple admiring the works straight in front of him, and one teenager lurking by the exit. If he had to guess, the teenager is probably impatiently waiting for the couple to be finished.

Then, right in the middle as usual, is Zayn. He’s reading a book, looking as though he’s counting down the hours until he can go home. He looks up for half a second, and his eyes immediately light up. He hastily shoves a bookmark to save his page and before Louis can blink, he’s running over to him.

“Louis! Hey!” he greets, and it could be Louis’ imagination but he looks like he’s thinking about hugging him before recovering and holding out his hand for a handshake instead. “Nice to see a familiar face other than like, business managers and stuff.” A light giggle. “What brings you here today?”

 _Wow his eyes are so gorgeous this close,_ Louis finds himself thinking. _Looks like fresh tea in the light of the sun when it first rises in the morning._ He’s finding it hard to stop staring – he has to remind himself that Zayn asked him a question and is waiting for an answer.

“Erm, right, well,” Louis clears his throat. “We had so much fun together yesterday, and uh, I was hoping we could have more fun together in the days ahead-” his cheeks turn hot. “Wait! No! Uh, I mean that… Well, Freddie would love to get ice cream with you again and he can’t do that unless I have a way of contacting you and knowing when you’re free so… Can I have your phone number?”

_Well, that’s one way to (over) do it._

Zayn just smirks. “Oh? Do you want to get ice cream with me again too, or is it just something your son bugged you to do?” He’s writing down his number on a piece of paper while he says this.

“Well, I guess I would kind of have to,” Louis tries. “He can’t be left alone, after all.”

“Of course not,” Zayn teases with a wink, handing over the paper. Louis takes it. “I can’t wait to get ice cream with you again really soon.”

Louis swallows, and when he talks again his voice goes up a pitch. “Uh, yeah, me neither. I mean, thank you.”

Zayn laughs. “You’re welcome. See you around.”

For a little bit too long to be comfortable, Louis finds himself frozen in place, staring at Zayn’s face. Zayn, for his part, isn’t moving either. Louis tries not to jump to conclusions, but is this conversation what he thinks it is? Because it sure sounded like flirting to him.

 _Wake up,_ he tells himself, even though his eyes are wide open. He drops his gaze to the paper, not trusting himself to look at those sparkling eyes any longer. “Right, well, I need to get back to me house to grade more assignments. But, uh, thank you… again. I will call you.”

He forces himself to turn around and start walking, albeit very slowly. Zayn just giggles behind him, and Louis is glad nobody can see the blush that comes across his cheeks. When he gets back to the car and turns the radio on, a plethora of love songs come on one after the other. Louis isn’t usually the type to connect every song that comes on to himself, but right now he can’t help it.

The ride is a breeze and he finds himself carefully wrapping up the piece of paper and putting it in his pocket without actually saving it to his phone. He will get to that eventually he’s sure.

He climbs out of the door and goes inside, taking time to admire the smell of freshly cut grass on his way in. He piles papers on the table in an order that only makes sense to him, and is about to get started when suddenly he hears his phone go off to the tune of ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.’ Liam.

“Hey mate,” Louis greets. “What’s up?”

“Louis, where are you?” Liam questions, almost frantic.

“At home?” Louis quickly turns from blissful to concerned. “Liam why do you sound so distressed?”

Liam makes a noise that sounds like a balloon being popped with a needle. “Don’t you remember that surprise party for Harry you promised to help me with?”

Louis’ mouth drops to the floor. “That’s today?”

“Yes!” Liam replies exasperated. “He’s been giving me pitiful looks all afternoon when he thinks I’m not looking, probably thinks I forgot today was our anniversary altogether.”

Louis is already putting back on the shoes he left at the door, and grabbing his keys out of his pocket again. “I’m so sorry Liam. I am on my way right now.” He hangs up the phone so that he can focus on making his way back down the road he just came up.

***

When he first arrives he’s not sure whether he should knock on the door or if that act alone would ruin the surprise. He’s about to send a text asking this exact question when the door in front of him opens. Liam must have seen his car pull up.

Coming inside, Liam’s got his arms crossed and an expression on his face akin to when his son is acting up in public and he can’t do anything about it. Louis melts under it. “Hi Payno. Listen, I’m so so sorry I forgot about this. I was-”

Liam holds a hand up, shaking his head. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude but can you please, save the explanation for later so we can get started?” Louis just nods mutely. “Thank you.”

“Now…” Liam rubs his hands, opening a bookmarked page in what must be one of Harry’s cookbooks - not to be presumptuous, but Louis has never known Liam to be the cookbook type. “Let’s get it started in here,” he sings like the Black Eyed Peas, then quickly clears his throat. “Get me some eggs from the fridge, please?”

Louis nods, still afraid of saying anything that could put Liam off. He opens the refrigerator and squats down to get the egg carton. “How many do you need?”

“Ummm,” Liam reads the page. “Six.” Louis just takes the whole carton, not wanting to go back and forth three times.

As he sets it down, he looks over Liam’s shoulder at the page. “Mate, you don’t need a cookbook. I know how to make those like the back of me hand.”

“I know,” Liam says, sounding slightly frustrated at the suggestion. “I had it at your mum’s every summer. But Harry does so much for me - I want to prove, for once, that I can do something too.”

Louis wrinkles his nose in disbelief at the idea that Liam doesn’t do enough. He’s positive Harry would call rubbish too. “Alright…” he puts his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “I’ll get back to getting the ingredients, then…”

Somehow they are able to get everything in the oven in time for the first members of Harry’s family to start arriving. Robin and Anne walk in and give both boys big hugs.

“Louis,” Anne greets happily. “Haven’t seen you in a little bit. How are you doing darling?”

“Oh you know, some days are better than others,” he laughs. He never knows how to answer when parents ask questions like that - even after becoming a parent himself.

Anne just smiles, satisfied with that answer. She turns back to Liam now. “Gemma will be a few minutes late. Her job is absolute chaos today.”

“That’s okay,” he responds with a grin. Louis can tell he’s working very hard to mask the stress the last ~hour of getting ready has brought him. “Umm, Harry is usually home in about five minutes so. Let’s go ahead and sit.”

He awkwardly motions to the table next to them, and the couple takes their seats. Louis hovers by the oven, not sure if he’s meant to sit too, or wait for the food to finish baking. Liam turns back to him and points his head to the oven, answering Louis’ nonverbal question.

Louis focuses in on the timer, watching the tick tick of each second. His brain gets so focused in on it that he slightly jolts when Liam clears his throat. “Umm, Louis?” Liam asks gently.

“Yes Payno?” Liam motions to the glasses next to the oven. “Oh! Sorry about that.” Louis moves out of the way so Liam can grab both the glasses and the bubblage and bring them back to Harry’s guardians.

Just a few seconds after Liam returns to the table, the oven timer goes off. Louis slips both oven mitts on and pulls it out. It smells fantastic; he can’t wait to get a taste. Just as he’s about to start cutting, everybody freezes. There’s a knock at the door. “Liam! I’m home!”

 _How dumbly romantic,_ Louis thinks with an eyeroll. _It’s his house too, he really doesn’t have to knock on the door and announce he’s home._

“Come on in sweetheart,” Liam replies with ease, as if it’s a script they read from every day. _They probably do_ , Louis concludes.

Everybody almost holds their breath, and then. “Surprise!” they all cheer.

Harry’s eyes light up and for a second he loses the ability to speak, squeals coming out of his mouth instead of actual words. He runs into Liam’s arms, almost knocking the breath out of him in the process.

Liam just laughs and hugs back. “Happy anniversary baby,” he says, and no, Louis does not have a tear in his eye, it’s just your imagination.

Louis wipes the totally-not-tear on his shirt sleeve and resumes cutting, putting the biggest pieces on Liam and Harry’s plates. “I’m starting to think there’s some sort of bias going on here,” Robin teases. “What do you think Anne?”

“Yeah, I agree,” she plays along, poking at her food with her fork. “I may have to complain to the manager.” Harry sticks his tongue out at her like the five year old he actually is, and everybody cracks up.

“This is delicious,” Harry says, not seeming to care that the food is still burning hot. He takes bite after bite of it anyway and just smiles at whoever is watching. “Louis, did you make this? I know Liam always says this is your specialty at home.” He winks and nudges his boyfriend, who frowns slightly.

“Actually,” Louis responds gently, finally taking a seat himself. “Liam here did it all on his own. I was just eye candy.” He winks again, and Harry’s eyes practically bulge out.

“Liaam,” Harry draws out, wrapping both of his arms around the top chef. “You cooked all by yourself? For me?”

“I did.” Liam is beaming like a ray of sun under Harry’s touch. “I just wanted to prove to you I could do something for once…”

Harry blows a raspberry, catching Liam slightly off guard. “Babe, you prove to me you can do things every single day. Don’t underestimate yourself like that.”

Liam just smiles softly. “Thanks Haz.”

Louis starts wiping at his eyes again and has to look away or else this sweat in his eyes will just keep building up. He loves these two so much.

***

Louis is in the middle of a rare moment that he gets as a father and full-time History teacher; a nap. He is having a really weird dream right now – one where he has promised to give each of these seven people twenty dollars, but suddenly they have formed an uprising against him. Dreams are weird, but sleep is nice all the same.

The dream is just starting to switch from that weird one to a dream that begins with Zayn’s face, when he is poked back into consciousness. As he opens his eyes, Zayn’s face changes to Niall’s face and he almost gasps but somehow manages to hold it in.

“Oh, hi lad,” he slowly sits up. “Gave me a bit of a scare there. What’s up?”

Niall tilts his head slightly, amused. “Well, I came to pick you up for our football trip and I found you lying here.”

“Football trip,” Louis repeats with guilt. That’s right, he and Niall had planned to go to a football field for a little while today because they both felt like they hadn’t been spending enough time together lately.

“Yeah,” Niall confirms, sitting down. “It’s okay if you forgot though. I know you’ve been forgetting a lot lately.”

Louis immediately goes on the defensive. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Is Niall trying to imply that he’s getting old or something? They’re less than two years apart for crying out loud.

Niall puts his hands up. “Hey, not trying to be rude – just, been noticing your head is somewhere else lately.” His face turns serious now. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

He really doesn’t want to talk about it; he would actually prefer to go play football. However, there is something about Niall that always make it nearly impossible for Louis to not say yes to him.

So, here he goes. “Well,” Louis breathes in. “Do you remember when we were in University and we went out one night and I met that guy? The one who, like, took a Polaroid with me?”

“Yes I remember Polaroid Boy,” Niall confirms. Louis internally laughs at the nickname - not externally, because he needs to focus on the story.

“Right, so, erm… A week or so ago, Liam invited me to go to this photo gallery with him and Harry.” His eyes move around the room as he continues; saying this out loud is embarrassing. It was already embarrassing in his head but now it’s ten times more embarrassing. “I went, and he was there. Zayn – or, Polaroid Boy, as you call him.”

He smiles despite himself. “And, like, at first I thought that these feelings or whatever would go away since it’s been nine years already. But instead of going away, they just keep growing more and more prominent the more I get to know him.” He sighs, burying his head in his hands. “I’m so pathetic.”

Niall is quiet for a while, which is very unencouraging. Louis sinks deeper into his hands. Finally, after Louis has already built up a running list of all the bad things he’s probably going to say, Niall responds. “Does he know?”

Louis removes his face from his palms and looks up with an eyebrow raise. “Know what? That I like him? I can’t tell him that! I could barely tell it to you without-”

Niall starts chuckling, which turns Louis’ confusion into anger. “Not what I meant, bro.” He scooches closer, putting his palm on his chin. “I mean, does he remember you from University?”

Flashbacks from that day enter Louis’ mind.

_A look similar to the one from earlier enters Zayn’s face – the one of realization, or was it concern?_

_“I’m sorry, I know this is weird,” Zayn starts, getting closer. “But, uh, have I met you before?”_

Louis’ lips curl around, heartstrings being pulled at the memory of how close they were – okay, so they were probably a pretty respectful distance for two people talking, but still. “He recognized me but, like, didn’t understand why he recognized me.”

Niall nods. “Well, then, that’s what you need to do first. You two have to talk about that night; no relationship of any kind can start if they don’t even know where they’re starting from.” Louis just stares at him – sometimes Niall says the most profound things without even realizing how profound they actually are.

“And after that, well,” Niall shrugs. “Everything else will work out the way it’s supposed to.” He turns to Louis with a big smile; Louis smiles right back.

“Thanks Niall,” he mutters. After a few seconds of them just sitting there, he clears his throat and stands up. “Now, then. What say we go play some football so I can kick your a***?”

Niall cracks up, standing back up himself. “In your dreams!”

***

It takes a few days – not because Louis is necessarily scared of how the discussion is going to go or anything, but because both men have very busy jobs and very busy lives in general outside of their jobs. It’s okay, Louis’ used to having to reschedule plans fifty times at this point in his adulthood.

Finally, when a day they are both free arrives, Louis has had enough time to rest well, and had enough quality time with his kid (though of course, there is no such thing as ‘enough’ of that), that he feels more than ready to talk about things.

He wipes the dust off the old Polaroid and puts it in his wallet to bring with him. Just in case, you know, Zayn doesn’t believe him when he tells him.

He hastily puts the wallet in his pocket, hoping it doesn’t bend or break. He’s had all this time to get ready for this day and yet he’s still going to be late if he doesn’t hurry up. Hoping he doesn’t look like a complete tool in this outfit, he grabs his keys and heads to the car.

When he finally arrives in the parking lot of the restaurant Zayn texted him about, the man in question is standing right there by the entrance. Louis tries to stop his jaw from dropping as he slowly gets closer and eventually puts it in park. It’s really hard, considering Zayn looks, to put it bluntly, fine as f***.

After Louis parks, Zayn keeps looking around until his eyes land on Louis’ face and he perks up, striding over to the car. He stops short, probably waiting for Louis to open the door. So Louis does open the door, and barely gets the chance to lock it before Zayn closes the distance between them with a hug.

“I’m so happy to see you again!” he greets excitedly, just like last time. Louis’ cheeks feel like they could combust from how wide he is smiling at the idea his presence makes Zayn’s day better.

“I am too,” Louis replies, hoping his giddiness doesn’t show too much in his voice.

Their hug is cut short by the voice of an overworked employee. “Just the two of you?” They ask in the most monotone voice Louis’ ever heard.

“Yes,” Zayn says with a smile, sending positive energy towards the other person.

Evidently it doesn’t register, because the worker keeps the same bored expression and tone as they say, “Follow me.”

The two boys do as they’re told and follow the worker to the seats in question. The worker places two menus on the table and tells the boys that another person will be over to take their orders in a minute. Zayn and Louis smile and say thank you.

Louis watches as the worker walks away and, once they are at a considerable distance, whispers. “Well I sure hope that person’s shift is over soon.”

Zayn snorts, opening the menu and sorting through the specials. “For real.” He looks up at Louis, keeping his pointer finger on one of the options. “Being a waiter was one of the worst jobs I ever had so like, I get it.”

“You were a waiter?” Louis asks. Pretty dumb question to ask, he supposes. Didn’t everybody have a minimum wage job once in their lives? Still, he is trying to make conversation.

Zayn nods, but before he can continue someone walks up to their table. “Hey y’all!” comes an American accent. “My name’s Samantha and I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Can I get you started with some drinks?”

“Just water is fine for me,” Zayn replies. Samantha writes that down and turns to Louis.

“Yeah, I’ll just have me a Yorkshire Tea,” he says. “Thanks love.”

Samantha grins and jots that down too. “Would you like any sugars or honey?”

Louis mimes a gagging motion. “No thank you.” Samantha writes that down with a polite smile while Zayn is over there cracking up like this is the funniest thing he’s ever heard.

“I’ll be right back with those,” Samantha tells them, walking away. He hopes he wasn’t somehow offensive with his fake gagging; he’s been told Americans further in the south drink sweetened tea like it’s their life blood. Personally though, he’s never understood the appeal in the least.

He turns to Zayn, who is still laughing in smaller increments. “I gather you really don’t like sugar in your tea.”

“Why ruin something that’s already great on its own?” Louis challenges. Zayn looks away now, whistling innocently. “Oh don’t tell me, you like it with sugar.” Now he’s the one snickering.

“Like, one or two,” Zayn confirms with a smirk. “I’m not as bad as some people out there who, like, dump an entire factory in there.” Louis knows exactly the kind of people he’s talking about; it makes him vomit just to think.

Still. “Putting any at all is a sin as far as I’m concerned,” Louis says, having to try very hard not to let his serious expression slip. Zayn laughs again and yep, Louis can’t help but dissolve into giggles himself.

Just then, Samantha comes back with their drinks. After setting them down, the giggles are interrupted by a throat clearing. They both turn to face Samantha’s eloquent smile. “Are you ready to order, or do you need a few more minutes?”

Louis is pretty sure he’s blushing; he’s now realizing that he can’t name a single item on the menu because he was too busy having fun talking to Zayn. “Er, yeah, just a few more minutes, love. Sorry.”

“No worries,” Samantha promises, turning around again.

Louis reads through the menu, finally, and when Samantha comes back the second time both boys are finally ready to order their food. As they wait for their dishes, Louis reminds himself why he asked to meet Zayn here in the first place. He needs to start saying his piece now, or else he never will.

“So, Zayn,” he starts. The man seated across from him grins, looking at him like he wants him to know he has his full attention. “I don’t know if you remember but, uh, when I first went to your gallery you asked if we had met before?”

Zayn nods slowly, eyebrows knit together. “I never really got a chance to answer that question,” Louis continues. He pauses but not long enough for Zayn to respond. Not yet. “And well, uh, we kind of have?” He says it as a question even though it’s not a question at all.

Louis reaches into his wallet and pulls out the (in)famous Polaroid he’s been keeping all these years. Zayn covers his mouth as if to stifle a gasp. “I, um, I don’t know. I just thought it was important to tell you so that, like, we ‘know where we’re starting from’ or whatever.” He’s using Niall’s words from several days ago because his own words are failing him.

“I can’t believe you actually kept that,” Zayn says just above a whisper. “I always wanted to know how it came out.”

Louis smiles, anxiety still present. “Yeah. Probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen to be honest.”

Zayn studies it for a bit longer and then passes it back to Louis. His smile falls. “I’m sorry I left so suddenly that night; my mind was all over the place and… yeah, I needed to get out of there. But I always felt really guilty about it; I wish I had said goodbye. I wish I had said something…”

Louis waves a hand. “Lad, that’s ancient history now. I’m not bothered by it in the least.” That’s a lie; he’s actually been very bothered by it for a very long time, obsessively recalculating what he could have said or done all these years later. It’s actually really relieving to hear he’s not bonkers for still being worried about it.

After that, the conversation drifts. They talk about what they’ve been doing the past few days; Zayn’s photo gallery has finally been taken down and replaced by a different artist. “It was fun while it lasted,” Zayn says. “But I am definitely glad to be free of the stress that came with it.”

Louis nods. “And, no doubt, a few dollars richer as well?”

Zayn laughs. “A few, yes. But honestly, and I’m not even being sarcastic when I say this, the money isn’t everything. Yes, it’s a great aspect, but like. Seeing people smile because they love something I did, hearing them talk about how much they love a certain picture, or talking to them about how one of my pictures made them remember a fun time in their lives?” His lips go up as he looks into the distance, looking like he’s reminiscing right now as they speak. “Nothing compares to that.”

“I bet,” Louis replies. Looking at Zayn’s blissful expression when talking about his job, Louis can’t help but perk up himself. Sometimes he wishes he was good at something like that, something artistic. Sometimes he wonders how many people’s lives are actually changed in any way, shape, or form by a college History class. It’s much more of a chore for most of his kids than anything else, which makes him sad, but it is what it is.

Zayn asks about Freddie, because of course he does, and Louis smirks as he relays a story of what happened just last night. “We were reading a new book I had just bought the other day, and it mentioned ice cream. He asked me when we would be having ice cream with ‘the artist’ again.”

Zayn immediately starts chuckling. “Oh my gosh, I love that so much. Tell him that ‘the artist’ also wants to know when we’ll be having ice cream together again.” He winks.

Louis chooses to ignore the quickly moving pulses of his heart. “Well, given the fact that it took us this long to even work this out, something tells me he will unfortunately be waiting a while.”

Zayn shrugs. “The best things are worth the wait.” _They sure are,_ Louis thinks.

***

They talk for a while and by the time they actually get around to eating their food, it has cooled off a fair amount, but that’s okay. The most important thing is that they are having fun and getting to know each other, which they are.

When they are done for the night – Louis has to grade tests which, contrary to what the students may think, is just as annoying for him as it is for them – they make plans to get ice cream ‘sometime in the next week’. Break is about to start so there will be less constraints on his end soon.

Zayn ended up paying the entire check while Louis was in the bathroom, much to his frustration. Zayn just smiled when confronted. “You have a kid to take care of, I only have myself and my dog. Besides, God knows the government doesn’t pay teachers nearly enough.”

Louis had wanted to argue that he’s not alone in taking care of Freddie. Briana does way more than her fair share since he is almost always at work. He ended up not saying that, though, and just letting it be, because at the end of the day it’s already been done, and it was a very nice gesture. “Thank you.”

As Louis sits back at his house, grading each test, he feels a connection with his students; daydreaming too hard about his crush to focus on school things. In that moment, he realizes he’s definitely falling hard and there is no coming back off the ground, but somehow, he’s okay with it.

***

Break arrives and students and teachers alike are breathing a (temporary) sigh of relief. None more so than Louis, who is looking forward to using this time with his favorite people: Freddie and Zayn.

Right now, the long-awaited second ice cream date is happening. That is, a date like an appointment, definitely not a romantic date because they are friends and Freddie will be there so it’s not romantic in the least. Yes, the long-awaited second ice cream appointment is happening.

Louis is driving them just a tiny bit above the speed limit, no big deal. Listen, the cops don’t patrol this area very frequently and he’s excited, alright? Let him have a little fun.

“Daddy, that sign says seventy and you’re going seventy-six,” Freddie says from the back.

 _How could he possibly know that?_ Louis wonders. _He must have inherited super vision from his mother, since she always seems to have eyes in the back of her head._

“Oh, you know what, you are right lad,” Louis responds, pretending to be shocked. He is a little shocked because really, how could he have possibly seen that? “Let me just correct that, there.” He slows down a little bit. Freddie is more intimidating than any cop, he thinks.

This time, instead of Dairy Queen, they’ll be going to Cold Stone Creamery. It has a much larger menu – Louis already explained to Freddie that he can only get one cone today – but also a lot less people.

Louis parks the car and goes to unbuckle Freddie from his car seat. “Now remember what I said lad, only one cone today. If there’s another flavor you want to try, we can come back another day.”

“Okay,” Freddie replies in a voice that doesn’t sound like he was actually listening. He perks up soon after and practically runs out the door. “Hey look! It’s the artist guy!”

Freddie picks up speed towards Zayn, who gets the biggest smile on his face as he is graced with a quick hug before Freddie begins chatting away. Louis takes a deep breath; he’s going to have to have a talk with him about running out of the car before looking both ways. It’s okay this time since Louis parked so close to the door, but that is not every time.

His frustration seeps away as he gets closer. How can it not? There Freddie is, chattering away and saying so many things at once that sometimes Louis can’t even keep up (but he tries his best to, of course), and Zayn is just smiling wider, looking as though he would be content just listening to Freddie talk all day. Louis beams. _So would I_.

Louis zooms in on the conversation they are having. “…Daddy has been talking about you a lot too, like how much he loves your eyes and…”

Oh no, he is _not_ about to be ratted out by a three year old. Louis swoops in quickly to stop whatever Freddie was about to say. “Hey lad, how about we go inside and get some ice cream now?”

As if he wasn’t talking about anything else before, Freddie immediately nods and once again starts running. “Freddie! No running! Me and Zayn can’t keep up!” He turns to the man beside him, exasperated.

Zayn, however, just smirks. “Glad to know my eyes are so beautiful you talk to your son about them when I’m not around.”

Louis lightly pushes him. “Oh hush up, don’t you get too cocky now. We all know I still have the best eyes in town.” He flips his very short hair, earning a giggle from Zayn.

Both boys walk inside, where they see little Freddie talking to the cashier and telling them what he would like. Louis rubs his eyes, letting out a soft “ugh.” Zayn just stands there, laughing quietly.

“An Oreo Overload,” the cashier repeats, looking at Freddie like he’s the best customer they’ve had all day. Honestly, he probably is. “And do you want that in a Like It, Love It, or Gotta Have It?” They point at each size as they name it, smiling as they wait for Freddie’s answer.

“Gotta Have It!” Freddie answers excitedly. “Because it’s the biggest one!”

“No, no, no,” Louis says, stepping in. “Remember what we talked about earlier Freddie? We said we were only going to have one ‘Love It’, otherwise you may not have enough room for dinner.”

“But if I only get one it should be the biggest one!”

Louis sighs. “Not this time lad. It will still be yummy even if it’s not the biggest.”

He sees his son start to frown and he already knows what will happen next. There will be crying, screaming, and they will end up having to leave without any ice cream, which he knows for a fact will be even worse to Freddie.

Zayn taps Louis on the shoulder and passes him a wink, and Louis is extremely confused until Zayn starts walking over to Freddie. He lowers his body to his level, that same smile he always wears just for Freddie coming back. “Hey Freddie, why don’t you tell me more about that picture book you’re working on? I never found out what happens to the fairy after she meets the wizard.”

Not missing a beat, Freddie switches back from a frown to a smile, excited to be talking to Zayn again about his story of the daring Brett-ay-a and his sidekick Tay-lor-a. Zayn gives Louis one final look as he picks Freddie up and walks the two of them over to a table.

Louis’ heart is leaping. Will he ever get over how perfect Zayn fits into his son’s life? Absolutely not. It takes him a second afterward to remember where he actually is and why they are all here.

“Right,” he says, turning back to the cashier. “I’m sorry about that, umm…” he fishes in his wallet and stuffs a few dollars in the tip jar for their troubles. “So yes, one Oreo Overload in the Love It size.” He thinks. “I don’t actually know what my friend wants, I never got the chance to ask him. He likes coffee so I guess the coffee frappe?” Louis bites his lips. “And then for me, the Banana Caramel Crunch looks pretty good. I’ll have that in the Like It size.”

The cashier smiles at him as he scans his card. “You don’t have to be sorry,” they say. “I love when kids order their own things. It makes my day better.” Louis nods; he would probably feel the same way if he worked at a place like this. “Would you like a receipt today?”

“Er, no, I think I’m good,” he replies. “Thank you.” He makes his way over to where Freddie and Zayn are sitting and hopes he did not end up holding up the line behind him too much. Freddie has moved on from talking about the picture book and instead is telling Zayn about the plot of his newest favorite movie.

“And during this one part,” Freddie tells him excitedly. “The brunette Spider-Man is trying to introduce Miles to the rest of them and goes ‘Miles is so cool, he can turn invisible. Check it out.’ Miles is like ‘I can’t do it on command’ and Spider-Man says ‘he can’t do it on command’ in the funniest voice.” He cracks up like it’s the greatest joke in the world, and darn it if Louis doesn’t find his son’s laughter absolutely contagious.

“That was one of my favorite parts too,” Zayn encourages.

“And then, and then-” Freddie continues through giggles, going into another spiel about a different scene from the movie. Louis just shakes his head fondly; Freddie hasn’t stopped talking about this movie since the two of them saw it with Briana two days ago. Louis has to wonder what he talked his own mother’s head off about at this age.

The workers call out Freddie and Zayn’s stuff, which Louis goes to grab. When he brings back the frappe to Zayn, he shrugs in a way that he hopes carries the message ‘I didn’t know what you want, so I winged it.’ Zayn just gives him a thumbs-up, taking a first sip of the beverage.

Freddie seems to have forgotten all about his demand to get the biggest size, and enjoys talking in between spoonfuls of ice cream. Louis half-heartedly reminds him not to talk while chewing, but he knows it’s useless and after the second time of saying it, he just lets it go.

Louis and Zayn themselves barely talk to each other throughout the whole thing, but that’s okay. Both enjoy listening to Freddie talk about what he loves, and both enjoy their delicious desserts. It’s the best ice cream ‘appointment’ Louis has ever been a part of, he thinks.

***

The rest of the break goes similarly. Louis spends pretty much every day with Zayn and Freddie, and when they don’t it’s because something important came up on one side or the other. But Louis, of course, doesn’t want to keep Freddie from time with his mother, so today he has lunch with Zayn while Briana and Freddie go see a movie together.

On his way out, his brain is stuck on the picture of Zayn scarfing down food; apparently they’ve finally reached the part of their friendship where any sense of being polite is out the door and now they can truly be their real selves. It’s intimate in a way he wouldn’t even know how to describe.

He’s in such a daze that he doesn’t even notice his phone is ringing until he starts to reach for the gearshift. He’s about to turn it into reverse when the vibrating phone finally catches his attention. He picks it up and sees it’s Briana calling. That’s odd; didn’t they agree that he would come pick Freddie up at dinner time today?

He presses the ‘answer’ button tentatively. “Hello, Bri? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she says breezily. “He just wants to go back with you already. He told me he misses you.”

“Uh… okay,” Louis replies warily. That’s weird; Freddie never has a problem spending the whole day with his mom. He’s always super excited to tell Louis all about what they have done together today. “I’ll be right there, I guess.”

“Thank you,” she responds. “See you soon.”

“See you.” He hangs up the phone and starts backing out of the restaurant parking lot. The closer he gets to Briana’s house, the more he feels weird about this. He hopes she’s not lying about everything being okay when Freddie’s actually in really bad pain or something; she wouldn’t do that, would she?

Louis pulls into the driveway. He looks around; nothing looks out of the ordinary at all. Maybe he was just overreacting. He shrugs, knocking on the door. Briana always tells him he doesn’t have to do that, but he personally feels like if anybody were to just walk in his house without warning (even if it’s someone he knows), he would get terrified out of his mind. So, he knocks, and then he walks in immediately after doing so – a compromise, almost.

“Freddie! How are you do-” he stops short when he looks around and can’t find his little lad anywhere nearby. What he does find is Briana sitting on the couch looking smug. “Where is he?”

“Oh yeah, he’s taking a nap right now,” she comments nonchalantly. “Got tired out after the ride home from the movie.” She takes a sip from a plastic Starbucks cup.

Louis is so confused. “Why did you call me over here then?”

“Because I wanted to talk to you, and I knew you wouldn’t come here unless it was about our son.”

“That’s not true at all!” he argues, but finally moves away from the door and walks over to sit beside her on the couch. She just sips at her drink. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Well, you’ve been spending an awful lot of your time with this Zayn guy,” she starts, and he holds his breath. “Actually, I don’t think you’ve spent a single day of this break without seeing him at least once a day.” Louis recounts the past week, trying to prove her wrong, but he can’t.

She smiles. “Freddie seems to think he’s really lovely. He tells me all the things he has done with ‘the artist’. Tells me that ‘daddy looks at the artist like a prince looks at a princess’.” He shakes his head. _Ratted out by a f***ing three year old._

“Briana,” he tries. “All due respect love, what is your point?”

“I think you should go for it,” she tells him. He doesn’t understand what she means; go for what? “Don’t play coy. Go for it, ask him to be your boyfriend.”

“Be my…” Louis repeats, then shakes his head immediately. “No way. That could end absolutely terribly; I don’t even know if he ‘rolls that way’.”

“You didn’t have this much anxiety when you tried to ask me out at the bar that night,” Briana points out. He shakes his head again; it’s not the same. “Look, I am here for you. If it doesn’t work out, then at least you can say you gave it a try. It does no good to live in fear.” She gives him a hug, and he feels tears pricking his eyes. “Just think about it.”

***

It takes a lot of thinking, one long nap, and at least three cups of tea, but that night, after Freddie has gone to sleep, he swallows his nerve and picks up the phone. Zayn told him once before that he’s a “proper night owl” and tends to stay up into the AM playing video games because the desire to sleep doesn’t come to him until then.

So, as Louis types in the number, he isn’t worried in the least that Zayn will pick up. “Louis! Hey!” Zayn greets, smile prominent in his voice as if a call from Louis is the best part of his night. “What are you still doing awake? Little guy giving you a hard time?”

Louis’ eyes start watering with happiness. _No, none of that_ , he tells himself. _Not yet at least._ “Not at all,” Louis assures, his words coming out a little teary anyway. “Freddie is absolutely wonderful at bedtime. I got lucky.”

“You sure did,” Zayn muses. “My parents would be jealous. My sisters and I were the worst to get to sleep when we were that age.” He laughs, and Louis can hear video game sounds in the background.

Louis laughs too. Zayn’s giggle is adorably contagious. “Speaking of me being lucky, I um, wanted to tell you how lucky I am to have you in my life. Like, you make my days better, and you make Freddie’s days better… You are truly amazing Zayn.”

“Aw, thanks bro, I think you and your kiddo are pretty amazing too,” he tells him, still blasting things in the video game.

Louis tries not to let the ‘bro’ deter him. _That’s just a thing people say_ , he repeats a few times as he takes a breath. _Keep going._ “I… I would like to be your boyfriend.” A little too long for Louis’ liking, the other line goes completely silent. No blasting noises either, as if he paused the game. Louis’ sweating and his heartbeat is accelerating with each silent second. “Do you, want to be my boyfriend?”

“Louis,” Zayn says finally, voice cracking slightly at the last second. He sniffles and clears his throat, as if to hide the sound. “I would love to be.”

Louis collapses into a fit of nervous giggles, unable to stop himself. Zayn starts doing the same soon after, and for a moment it’s just the two of them laughing through the phone. _Boyfriends_ , Louis repeats to himself. _Zayn and I are boyfriends_.

***

Louis’ phone rings to the tune of _Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go_. He’s just gotten off work from the first day back at school following winter break and is definitely in need of a stress reliever in the form of a phone call from his best friend.

“Oy oy!” Louis calls, laughing. “Hey Payno. Long time no chat.”

“I know, I know,” Liam replies. “Things have just been ridiculous lately. I see you and Zayn are dating now? I’m so happy for you, man. That’s awesome.”

“Yeah, it is pretty amazing,” Louis sighs romantically, thinking of the way Zayn, Freddie, Briana, and him all celebrated the last day of break. Louis didn’t think it was fair that Briana was basically the reason Louis ended up asking Zayn out and still hadn’t met the man in question, so they both worked together and had a big dinner at Louis’ house. “But enough about me, what have you been up to?”

“Bro,” Liam says, and Louis already knows he’s in for a ride. “Where do I even start? I mean, remember that demo I made forever ago?”

“Of course I do,” Louis responds proudly. “I still listen to it all the time.” A few years ago Liam made a demo tape and shared it with a few of his friends, one of them being Louis. Music has always been what he wants to do professionally. There just aren’t a lot of opportunities in this town; a shame really, because Liam is a proper talented singer and songwriter.

“Well, I thought it was a long-shot,” Liam starts again, chuckling softly. “I still can’t believe he actually listened to it – let alone told me on the spot he wanted to work with me.”

“Liam…” Louis says slowly. “Who is ‘he’?”

“Jonas freakin’ Blue!”

“ _What?!_ ” Louis yells. Jonas Blue is a producer and songwriter who started out in this town and now makes music with some of the biggest names in the industry. “Oh my gosh Liam, I am so proud of you.”

“Thanks mate,” Liam replies, sounding like he’s trying to not cry right then and there. “And, uh, something else happened too.” Louis is on the edge of his seat, trying to figure out what could possibly beat Liam collaborating with his idol. “Harry proposed to me.”

 _“What?!”_ Louis repeats.

“We’re gonna get married, Louis,” Liam says, as if he’s still trying to make sense of it himself.

“ _Heck yeah you are!_ ” Louis cheers. “I’m so, so happy for you Liam.”

In that moment, Louis thinks about what a truly amazing life he is living right now. He’s dating the guy of his dreams, a guy that his son is also positively enamored with, and now his best friend is getting his dream job and marrying his own boyfriend.

And it all started with one trip to a photo gallery.

**2023**

Zayn and Louis are standing in front of a priest exchanging vows. To Louis’ side are his best man Niall and his grooms-women, his sisters. To Zayn’s side are his maid of honor, Gigi, and his own sisters. You can say it’s a bit of an unorthodox line-up, but both of them have always been of the mindset that rules are made to be broken.

In the crowd is extended family and friends, who have been showered with flower petals by a seven-year-old Freddie Tomlinson. He sits next to his mother in the front row and looks like he has better things to do with his time than this. _He will live_ , Louis thinks. _Especially once he sees the cake at the reception._

When the couple has finished exchanging vows and given each other their first kiss, they step down to the center of the room to begin their first dance. DJ Liam Payne promised them that they would absolutely not be disappointed with their choice to ‘hire’ him, that he had a special song prepared just for them.

_Let me tell you how it happened, I wasn’t looking for someone that night…_

Louis’ eyes get watery and he’s afraid he’ll forget how to move any minute now. Looking into the other man’s eyes, it would seem he is feeling the same way. As the two of them sway to Liam’s song, one he created just for them and no one else, Louis thinks about how he isn’t sure what the future holds, but he can’t wait to get there with Zayn by his side.

_We took a polaroid, you signed your name upon it. I put it in my wallet, hoping I’d see your face again…_


End file.
